moebigslee

Well I got my truck today and put in the 4600kv sidewinder system, a 2.4 ghz reciever, and I fresh lipo. 3 minutes later the fun was over. Inoticed the front wheels were not driving so I took the body off and saw the center driveshaft/dogbone laying on the bottom of the chassis. I took off the top bracket that runs the length of the truck and found out the drive cup that sit on the end of the slipper and hold the center dogbone had fallen off. The worst part is I was driving it on my gravel driveway and for the life of me I cannot find it! I guess it's my fault for not checking the set screw that hold the drive cup on before taking it out for a spin. I called ace rc and asked if they had them and they said yes but they wouldn't sell to me. I was told to call amain hobbies. When i talked with amain they said they don't stock that part and that I need to call ace rc! I told the nice lady at amain ace told me to call them. So the amain rep called their ace rep and told them the situation and got them to send me the parts. I understand why distributors like ace want people to buy from their dealers but come on. This is such and odd ball truck right now that knowbody stocks the parts except ace. Basically every other rc company will let you buy direct form them. I would even be wiling to pay a higher price than I would have to pay from my local hobby shop just to get parts faster. It's so frustating knowing all the parts are in the country but I can't mail order them like I can for most other cars. Ok enough about ace rc. I do like the truc kand I think with a few more upgrades it'll be really nice. According to the manula they already make a bunch ou aluminum hop ups like steering knuckles and shocks....but I guess that means trying to get a hobby shop to order them from ace for me. With the brushless motor in it I can tell I'm going to have to gear this thing up. I think the stock pinion is a 20t and I've got a 23t I'm going to try. I've got a very large track in my yard and I can't wait to get this truck out there on it. As far as your problem with your front wheels not driving correctly I'd take the top chassis bracket off and make sure the set screws on the drive cups are tight. My guess would be one of them is spinning freely on the shaft that come out of the diff and you don't want on to get so loose that it falls out like mine just did. If you look at the pic posted a few posts up of the slipper you can see the drive cup I'm talking about and the set screw that needs to be checked both front and rear. I'll let you know when I get the parts to fix it and get a chance to really test it. Until them I guess I'll play with it as a 2wd stadium truck!

MTboy

I'm really interested in getting one of these for my wife. Think 4wd would help her alot so she would stay interested. I should it to her on amain and she told me to order but I think I will wait and learn more..
Yeah right like I can wait to long before doing once she gave the ok...lol

moebigslee

I wanted to let everyone know that I spoke with ace and amain hobbies again today about the lack of parts support. Amain told me that they will be stocking parts for this vehicle in the very near future. They said they expect to have their first shipment of parts instock in the next week or so. Hopefully we'll be able to overnight any part needed in a very short time!

patxeik

hey!!! i ve been waitting for this car long time ago, i need to sell some cars like a rc10t4 a e-firestorm and a df03 ms and i will get one of this beast, i dont care if the shocks leak fluid cause i will put an aluminum ones, but like somebody said im interested that the car will handle a high power brushless, i own a vortex 5.5 and i will place that motor.
I got some questions in my head, do it have 12 mm hex rims so we can buy some aftermarket rims like hpi, etc. I also would like to kick that ugly body shell and place a rc1t4 one or something like that, but this paint scheme is really ugly to me.
I will be reading all that you write to make a decision is this car is worthless or is ok.
Anybody have seen the lot of original hop ups they have, carbon chasis, upper carbon chassis, aluminum knuckles....... hope they will not too expensive
Have fun and sorry about my little english

NITRO ACE

I have the nitro version of this car, (tomahawk st). It is very important to putloctite blue thread locker on the set screws for each out drive. There are three set screws on each differential, (at least on the tomahawk there is) and one just in front of and behind the brake disc. (Probably no disc brake on the electric version.)They put a small amount of glue on these at the factory but it's not enough. Do this before your first run so you don't lose any parts. Then you can have fun instead of waiting for parts, which can be hard to get.

I use this site to get some parts but they are slow. If anyone has a reliable source for thunder tiger car parts please let us know. Thanks.

http://www.thundertiger4u.com/index.php

moebigslee

I found a needle ina haystack yesterday. I actually found the missing drive cup in my yard! I was able to try the 23t pinion today and it made a huge difference in top speed. My speedo temp was only 112 degrees and the motor was 95 degrees. I could probably go large on the pinion but I think it might actually be too much on my track. I'm in the process of changing the track and I think it'll be a few weeks before I get it all done and get the chance to really test the sparrowhawk. I know it's kind of off topic but here's a pic of my track last summer. I don't race much but I do like a quality track to run on that tests my driving skills and my vehicles abilities! My new layout will be even larger and more technical.

moebigslee

I also wanted to let people know I got a few pricesfor thehop ups thunder tiger has for this truck. Thundertiger4u.com gave me the following prices
titanium steering links $27.19
titanium turnbuckle set $30.59
aluminum rear shocks $22.09
aluminum front shocks $21.24
The shocks seem like a fair price for aluminum ones but the links are a little pricey. I'd like adjustable links but I don't know if I feel like throwing down coin on the titanium. I think I might try finding some steel turnbuckles from another kit that'll fit the sparrowhawk and my budget.

MTboy

Wow moebigslee that is one sweet track.  Looks like alot of fun and would like to see some action shots of the XT on it. 

I see that amain is out of stock and I ended up going ahead and back ordering one.  Hope it don't take to long to get some in..

kshoopman

Patxeik, yes they are 12 mm hubs.

Moebigslee,that is one nice track. My shaft had fallen out also. Do your front wheels pull as hard as the rear? I haven't been able to drive mine since tighting the slipper since I have no shocks.

moebigslee

kshoopman,
As far as I can tell both axles are driving the same. It's hard to tell because the thing is so fast it just throws gravel everywhere. On cement it'll just want to do wheelies or even spin out when you puch it hard. Just make sure you have the set screws nice and tight on those drive cups.

MTboy

Did anyone keep in in stock form?  I would like to hear how it is stock since I will keep it stock for the wife other then installing a LVC so I can run 2s lipo.  Also could you tell me if my lipo will even fit in the batt area (Dimensions: 137x45x25mm) since I can't seem to find any pics?  Anyone have some pics of the truck without body on to get a better idea of it?

kshoopman

Mine is still stock and it seemed to run very well. I've only run three packs through it so far. I don't have a digital camera to post any pics yet. I will take measurements tonight after work .

MTboy

Hey thanks,  I did find some more info on it with lots of pics so other then the batt area I think I'm good.  It does look like it will fit with no problem but would like to make sure.  Now just have to wait to get back in stock.   After you run more packs threw I would like to hear more of what you think in stock form.  

kshoopman

MTboy, I measured the battery compartment and it is L160 x W50 x H30 (mm's). Hope that helps.

MTboy

Hey thanks alot, that helped alot.  Looks like it's alittle bigger then my batts so will leave room for some foam padding to help protect them.  Now you need to get out and run some packs threw it so you can let me know if it kicks butt like it looks like it would...lol   Thanks again and have fun..

teamwolfman rc

im really interested in the truck. can either of you owners take some pics of it?

MTboy

I found this site yesterday and it has some good pics..

http://www.tiger.com.tw/product/6537-F.html#Gallery

patxeik

hey guys how is going with your new sparrow? its a reliable car when its build correctly? did you change the silicones of the diff, are they sealed or have some leaks? This car looks that is going to be a kick ass to bash and have some fun in the track against 1/8 nitro buggys if its not too heavy to put on it a  powerfull bruslessh motor, im thinking about a 5.5t team orion with a novak gtb that i already own.

Come on guys make some vids to let us know how it handles and how  much strog it is, there are only one vid in youtube in a skatepark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQmkrcB3Z9I

SPARROWHAWK POWER!!! heheheheh need to sell a t4 and a efirestorm to get one

patxeik

come on guys post anything about the car!!!

It is a good purchase if you think to upgrade things as shocks, turnbunckles and upper chasis?

Dont let the sparrowhawk forbidden cause its the only 1/10 truck 4x4 all other companys dont look after us!!

moebigslee

I still have very little run time on my sparrowhawk xt because I'm still in the process of rebuilding my track but I am very happy with it so far. As far as I can tell from running it on the road it's a good truck. I can't speak for it in stock form but with the brushless motor this thing rips!

patxeik

moebigslee thanks for the reply, you have a wonderfull track, just amazing.

By the way im not interested in how it performs with stock electronics cause if i bought it i will kick out all that stuff, im interested if it is a reliable car, how it goes the engine mount since its very rare to me,..... i think i will order one today from amainhobbies, do you know any place where i can get cheaper or a discount coupon from amain?

thanks for all

mail4ajo

I have the buggy version of the car. I think I just blew my reverse, it doesnt work anymore.

Apart from that not much issues. After a very very hard hit, busted one shock. Just reassembled with new oil.

kshoopman

I'm still waiting on my replacement shocks from ACE HOBBY. Their customer service? rep told me they were shipping out on May 20th but I have yet to receive them. I haven't been able to drive my Sparrowhawk for three weeks now. Now they won't answer my emails.

amen

I actually does look amazing! Can someone that owns one please post how its holding up with a brushless setup? I'm ordering mine from a local shop here in athens, I'll hopefully have it soon...

moebigslee

so far my sparrowhawk is holding up well with the 4600kv sidewinder. I did do a little mod to the shaft coming out of the rear diff that holds the drive cup. The flat spot on the shaft is very very small and it's hard to make sure the set screw in on that flat spot before you tighten it. With the brushless motor it either kept coming loose or it was never in the right spot and withing a few minutes the front wheels would stop driving. I used a dremel and made that flat spot much larger (like you see on the shaft of a motor) so now I can easily get the set screw lined up where in needs to be and there is actually a large flat surface for the screw to sit on. I also adder a small o-ring to the front drive cup to keep the center dog bone/drive shaft from moving too much. As the dog bone moved front to rear the truck would make funny sounds like something in the drive line was out of balance. Now that the dog bone is kept towards the rear of the truck the drive line is very quiet. I'm still working on the track but I've been playing on the finished sections and I have to say I'm impressed with the durability of this truck. I've landed upside down and cased my 30 foot quad with no problems yet. I do need to add heavier weight fluid to the shocks and maybe some new springs because the truck bottoms easier than I'd like it to. Thats one of the only drawbacks to this truck, you have to come up with your own set up because it's so new and most people that have them probably won't run them on tracks or race them. The next thing I might try is seeing how loose I can set the slipper before it really effects the pull of the front wheels. The looser I can set it the less problems I'll have keeping that above mentioned set screw tight. When your hard on the gas the front end gets pretty light so and looses traction anyway so I might as well keep the slipper on the loose side to protect the drive train on hard landings. I'm using a 23 tooth pinion with the stock spur gear and my motor/esc temps are always in the very low 100's